matthews



Jo'HN MATTHEWS, JR.,l .or -NEW Yoan, N. Y.

Letters 'Patent No. 61,627, dated January 29, 1867.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN;

Be it known that I, JOHN MAT'HEWS,IJ1- of the city, county, and State of New York, have .invented a certain new and useful Improvement on Bottling Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, andin which-d Figure l represents a vertical section ofa bottling apparatus or machine, in part, with my improvement' applied thereto and bottle under operation and 'Figures 2 and 3, vertical sectins of my improvement as applied to bottles of different sizes.

Like letters indicate like parts throughout the several ligures.

improvement, which is more particularly adapted to bottling liquids under pressure, such as soda water and sparkling wines', has for its main object the accommodation, with greater convenienceV rand celerity in the one machine, bottles .of diii'erent sizesvor heights. Heretofore it has been Vcustomary to construct bottling machines for such purpose of a size and height, between the bed on which the bottle rests and nozzle through which the liquid and cork are entered, sucient to accommodate the largestfsi'zed bottle, and either to employ separate machines for smaller-sized bottles, or blocks to pack up the latter till their mouths stand at a like level -as did those -of the larger description., This last is a clumsy and slow expedient, rendering necessary two sepM arate screens to provide against accident in case of ,bursting o'f the bottles, and involving higher, more cnmbcra some and expensive machines than would otherwise be required for lling small or laverage=sized bottles, while to employ separate machines for diiferent-sized bottles is both expensive and inconvenienti The nature of my invention, in connection with such machines, consists in employing detachable wells varying in depth, and it may be diameter, to suit di'erent-sized bottles, and constructed to fit arecess or chamber' in the b'ed, whereby the one machine, which may be built low, serves, without the aid of packingblocks, to accommodate different-sized bottles, and tobring their mouths to the same level, or thereabouts, under the filling nozzle, and whereby the one screen will answer for the various-sized bottles, and, in case of bursting or breakage, every facility be a'orded for emptying the well of broken glass, so as to present but little or no interruption to a continuons or rapidly successive lling of the bottles. My invention also consists in a novel construction of the screen or guard. I

Referring` to the accompanying drawing, A represents the bed or table of the machine, provided with t recess, well, or chamber, B, of suilicient or more than sufficient depth and diameter to accommodate the usually largest-sized bottle known to the trade orin ordinary use, and so as to bring its mouth to the proper levei under the filling and corking nozzle, C, which is, or may be, connectedin the usual manner, by a supply pipe, D, with the reservoir containing the liquid to be bottled, and be hung in a cross-bar or'frame, E, resting on springs, b, to adjust the nozzle to the mouth of the bottle. Au escape pipe, c, is furnished the chamber B, for running olf into a suitable vessel or reservoir any overflow of the liquid in the bottling process; F (figs. l, 2, and 3) are detachable cups or wells of' dierent internal depths 'and preferablywarying diameters to suit dii'erent sizes of bottles.r These cups should be made with a ange, d, of proper thickness and diametery to t snugly within a A countersink, e, in the bed,vso as, when inserted, to `bring said cups properly within the chamber B, and the tops of their llanges level withfthe table,I td facilitate the sliding in of the bottles. Itis also desirable that said flanges shouldbe provided with perforations, f, to conduct waste or overlow into the chamber B, as well as the sides and bottoms of the cups furnished with aperturesor openings, for the same purpose. In these detachable cups or wells, when in their place, the bottles' are inserted, various-sizedwells being used, according to the sizes of the bottles to be filled, by which means the mouths of the several sizes are brought to the same level,

or thereabouts, under the filling nozzle..

Celerity being a great object 'in bottling, by this, my improvement, much time is savedin adapting the machine to different heights of bottles, by the facili-ty with which the detachable cups or wells may be changed, v

instead of the clumsy and tedious process of packing up by blocks or otherwise, the smaller-sized bottles, to bring their mouths to the level of. the larger ones.' The onenmachine, also, instead of two or more7 will suffice for mo'st or all-sized bottles, and such machine need not be-'of aumconvenient height abo've the surface on whch-themachine rests, but may bc built low, and comparatively cheap and light. Furthermore, a small and uniform size of screen, surrounding the bottle in'its projection above the table, to protect against personal ma: 2 v

injury in case of bursting, will answer furthe largest as Well as the smallest-sized bottie, while ny'boiren glass produced by such occurrence may readily be removed, and a clear seat for thev bottles re-established, by simply taking out the detachable cup or well and emptying it of the fragments, and afterwards replacing it with bntlittle-interruption or loss of time in comparisonwith the employment of a fixed chamber'lor well for the bottles to rest on, and which would require the picking outof,the pieces. In case of the bottle-screen or guard being of a pendent description, attached, say t'o the lling nozzle C,\instead of constructing it of wire, and semi-spherical shape, with ther openings in or'rou'nd it of a horizontal or annular character, as such guards have heretofore been constructed, I prefer to make the same in one piece, say of cast metal, and of conical form,

substantially as represented at S, in iv. 1, withthe openings min it of a vertical character as regards theirlength, and Without intermediate horizontal cross-bars .or interruptions tocatch or interfere with the neck or mouth of the bottle, the conical form of the guard also favoring its adaptability to di'ercnt-sizedrbottles, while its construction, as described, in one piece, is preservative of its form, givesthe -necessary strength and protection against injury in case of a bottle bursting, and readily admits of its attachment hy giving it a screw form at its junction with the illing nozzle. It may also be observed that this screen or gu'ard, S, serves to guide or bring the mouth of the bottle under the filling nozzle, even though the bottle, by reason of the irregularity lof its base,l or otherwise, should not standperpendicular, or be placed so that, without such guide, its inouth would fail to come centrally under the filling nozzle. In this respect this screen or guard, having no horizontal break or interruptions, serves automatically as a guide to direct the mouth of the bottle to its proper position under the filling nozzle.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-e l 1. The combination, in bottling machines, of perforated detachable cups or wells of different depths or sizes, essentially as and for the purpose or purposes herein set forth;

2'. Thebottle-screen or guard, made to form a guide to the moutl or neck of the bottle, by constructing it of aconical form'br shape, with its guiding surfaces free from horizontal interruptions or breaks, substantially as specied. w n Y JOHN MATTHEWS, Jn.

Witnesses:

J. .'W. Coomns, G. W. REED;- 

